End of Year

It has been a while since I've posted - partly due to a bereavement and also to the ever present pressure of work.

But I thought that it would be good to review the past academic year. Which has been great [if a bit of a whirlwind a times]. Removing reliance on paper was a little bit scary to start with, but having made this leap, there is no way that I would go back to paper-based sessions - using other techniques is just too much fun for both me and my learners. No, I haven't found a way to remove all paper from the classroom [and I don't think that that would be a good idea at all - paper is a useful tool] but I no longer rely on it.

I've loved using models, and I'm using the holiday to review my teaching and to find out where else I can use them. One or two learners thought that using models was a little bit odd or immature, but the vast majority took part in the exercises and benefited from them [and it gives me a chance to play]

I'm also going to carry on using the e-learning techniques I've used this year and to build on them. I've got plans for pod casts, forums, wikis and anything else that I can think of.... I like the versatility of e-learning, I've had some learners who were unable to attend sessions [because of health or family problems] who have found these resources really useful and who have manged to hand in good quality work by using them from home.

I'm trying to design power point presentations which are even more interactive [I'm trying too keep away from boring stuff]. So far its gone well; an activity involving flash cards lasted twice as long as I had allowed.

I know that I [and everyone else in the teaching profession] am going to spend a significant amount of time working on the next academic year while recovering from this one, but the planning is so much more exciting and appealing now that I'm using different methods.

While I think about it, the New Scientist book "How to Fossilise Your Hamster" has some great experiments for the armchair scientist and I plan to try and incorporate some of these ideas next year. Well worth reading.

There are some people who have not liked what I've been doing, although the reasons that they have given are a tad vague. At the risk of causing offence, I actually don't care that much. What I do, I do because I think that it is beneficial for my learners. It also makes my job more challenging, more interesting and therefore more rewarding and what on earth is wrong with that?